On Managing One’s Bank Account
“Don’t get mad at the overdraft charge… No, no — see, there’s your problem. You think of it as a penalty for taking out money you don’t have, but instead, it is might help you to think of it as a reminder that you’re a dumb sh*t.”
(excerpted from Sh T My Dad Says)
Any questions?
My apologies for pointing out the obvious, but I do agree with this observation/opinion.
Every time I used the overdraft on my account, I was a dumb piece of poop, it is that simple. I made a mistake, that is why I over-drafted, Fidel Castro didn’t break into my bank account and steal money from it, I made a mistake, that’s all, and for that reason the bank is allowed to take money from me.
No, I am not changing my stance on Bank Fees and such, because this isn’t a fee, it’s a Bank Penalty, there is a difference. If the bank charges me $75 for cheques, that is ridiculous, if they charge me $13 a month for services that is nuts too, but this is a punitive fee for something I did wrong. I am confident that if the bank could they would charge me a penalty for everything they have done wrong (come to think of it, that is kind of like the bail-out, but I digress), but they haven’t figured out to legally do that (yet).
If Fidel Castro or the CIA did break into my bank account and made me overdraft then I might have an argument (a really bizarre argument), but for the rest of the times, I stand by the opening statement.
Given how over-monitored our finances tend to be these days, it is nearly impossible to miss this coming, unless you and your wife don’t talk much (or your bank account is jointly held by Fidel Castro).
Conclusions
As you can tell I have grown quite fond of this book, it’s very crude in it’s phraseology, but very amusing (OK down right hilarious in spots) in the points that it makes about life’s day to day issues.
Here’s a thought to end this on
“I wouldn’t worry about money…No, it has a lot to do with happiness, I just meant YOU shouldn’t worry, cause you’d just piss it away.”
–Same source
Respects my man for holding yourself responsible rather than cursing the bank out.
Banks do charge a lot of fees but some of them are justified (like penalties for screwing up) and others they get away due to lack off competition.
Of course, things are changing in terms of banks fees now. PC financial and now even ING will be announcing checking accounts with no fees, no limits of ATM withdrawals etc.
I tend to keep my everyday expense budgets in the PC account and go swiping my way merrily 🙂
One sales person had contacted me for the salary overdraft facility with my salary account. Since I am very cautious and didn’t wanted to increase the debt further, didn’t opted for it.
Well done, BCM. It takes a big man to accept responsibility for his misfortune (and a bigger man to laugh at that man (-Jack Handey, paraphrased)).
One time I wrote a letter taking full responsibility for an overdraft and requesting a refund of the penalty. A guy from the bank called and thanked me for admitting complete fault, and refunded it.